Longarm Quilting Services

Tips For Prepping Your Quilts Before Machine Quilting

I love what I do!! I am so grateful that I get to quilt so many incredible quilts!! Thanks for giving me that opportunity and supporting my small business. I want you to love the end result of your quilt after it arrives back home. There are some easy things that you can do as you make and then ready your quilt for quilting. I don’t want you to stress if you pressed your quilt and it may get wrinkled when it’s folded. Most the time there aren’t any bad wrinkles. So please don’t stress, these tips help me as I quilt your quilt.

Quilt Tops

• Please press your quilt top well. I prefer that seams are pressed to one side and pressed flat. If you have bulky seams I suggest pressing seams to opposite sides or pressed open when necessary to avoid the bulk. Seams that are pressed open actually expose the thread and weaken it. That is why I encourage quilters to press their seams to one side.

• Please trim your threads. The hopper foot, the quilting machine’s sewing foot, can easily get caught on threads. Also, if you have fabrics that are fraying on the back, and you can see the threads through the lighter fabrics, I suggest trimming them right before bringing/sending your quilt and then folding your quilt up with the right side of the quilt facing out. That way the back side has less of a chance of fraying from being handled.

• If your quilt top or backing is directional, please pin a note to the top.

• Please fold your quilt top and backing separately, batting too…if you provide your own.

• Embellishments are a fun addition to quilts, however they are quite difficult to work with. If it is possible, please add them after quilting is complete. The hopper foot is moving up and down with great power and could break or chip a button or anything similar. I also can’t quilt within a 1/4th of an inch around the embellishment. When making memory quilts with clothing, keep in mind that collars, pockets, bulky seams, buttons, zippers, and such cant be quilted. I know they add to the look of the quilt, but they can be very difficult to work with. I actually don’t quilt jean quilts, which I’ll explain below.

• When attaching borders to a quilt, its much easier to get a long piece of fabric and sew it on, trim it by hand with scissors, and do the other sides. Unfortunately, that typically causes very wavy borders. I’ve done that myself. This also happens with sashing, too. Wavy borders means your quilt edges won’t be straight after it’s quilted. I try my best to work with every quilt that I quilt. However, it is more important to me to have a quilt that is pucker free than have a quilt with a straight edge. Sometimes I can ease in fabric, sometimes I can’t. There are a few different ways that quilters “correctly” attach borders. In my personal opinion, the best way to attach borders is to start with the sides. Measure and cut each border to each side. Pin the border to the quilt, and then you can be certain that it fits. If you need to straighten the edge, don’t use scissors, use a rotary cutter and ruler. This will give you a straight edge to sew the top and bottom sides to. Pressing too much can cause borders to stretch some, so be careful. By pinning the fabric to the quilt, you can’t pull it as you sew. The reason I don’t like measuring through the center of the quilt in both directions, is because quilts aren’t often the same size on the sides. When quilts are fudged to fit a border there can be issues. I know with my method, my quilts aren’t exactly square, however I know that they will lay flat and not have those pesky wavy borders. Wavy borders can be an even bigger issue when the quilt blocks are sewn on the bias.

Backings

• The most important quilt prep is to make sure that your backing is big enough. I request that backings are a minimum of 4” bigger on all sides. If your quilt is 50”x60”, your backing needs to be a minimum of 58”x68”. If it is bigger that’s okay. When backings are huge they tend to sag on the sides as they are being quilted, so don’t go too big. Backings need to be bigger to pin to the canvases, use side clamps, and allow for the quilts that don’t lay flat.

• Minky is great!! If your quilt is too small to use the 60” wide, I highly recommend using the 90” wide. Piecing a minky backing can be frustrating. If you’d like to use minky and need to piece it, please contact me or watch this video that I did years ago: https://youtu.be/g2SDbAcL56g

• There are lots of options out there for backings. I will list a few that are okay, and some that are not okay. Quilters cotton, minky, flannel, old sheets, and flannel sheets are great options for quilt backings. Terrycloth, fleece, new or high thread count sheets, silky fabrics, tricot, and other super stretchy fabrics are not the best idea. Terrycloth, fleece, silky, and tricot fabrics are stretchy in both directions. They don’t quilt well. As a quilt is quilted the backing is pulled taut, which actually stretches those kind of fabrics. I’ve tried them all, and won’t quilt them. It’s hard to quilt them and not have them bunch up when they are taken off of the machine. Imagine pulling a rubberband and then sewing it, and then releasing it. It bunches. I don’t want that for your quilt. Don’t skimp on your backing, especially after working so hard on the top. New sheets or those with a high thread count aren’t the best. The needle has a harder time quilting in and out of the fabric. Old sheets are great, they’ve been washed a ton and quilt up nicely. Also, flannel sheets are great! My friend just got one from Eddie Bauer. 108” wide backs are a great option, however sometimes I have an issue when they aren’t ripped straight. I know its hard to cut them straight, but sometimes the backings can be so crooked that the backing isn’t big enough for the quilt top. I’ve heard some other quilters pin them onto their machine and stretch them straight by going back and forth. I’m not going to do that. Please plan for extra fabric for your backings if they need to be straightened up. I have to pin two straight ends, to the canvas on my machine table.

• Vertical seams in quilt backs are highly discouraged. I know that it sometimes saves a lot of fabric, but it can create major issues during quilting. When a backing with a vertical seam is pinned to the machine, it can be super tight along the seam itself and cause the sides to sag. It also creates extra bulk where the seam is as the quilt is rolled up, which can cause issues when trying to line up a quilting design. If you are going to do a vertical seam, trim the selvages in the seam after you sew the fabrics together. This can release some of the tension along the seam when it is pinned onto the machine table. Horizontal seams are always the way to go, unless you’re working with minky.

• I highly recommend pressing the seams on your backing to one side. I’ve had some backings have a big stitch length when they are sewn together, and then the seam is pressed open, which allows the batting to show through.

• When choosing a backing fabric, choose one that coordinates with the front nicely. I use the same thread in the bobbin as I do on top, and I try to make the thread blend nicely with the top…and I always love it when the thread blends nicely on the backing, too. If you choose minky for the backing, I highly suggest getting a color that will blend well with it. It makes me cringe when I get a quilt that has black or navy minky, and the top has lots of lighter fabrics. I can’t control how much the fibers pull through. Some designs work great, and you won’t see much pull through, and some just pull through the fibers.

• Square backings!!! This is another extremely vital tip. I love it when my clients leave the selvages on their backings. Selvages are straight nearly 100% of the time. I need an exactly straight edge to pin to the canvas’ on my machine table. The selvages will not be visible on your quilt backing when your quilt is trimmed, because an inch of both the top and bottom of the quilt backing is pinned to the canvas. The sides also need to be cut straight. I like to use clamps on the sides to prevent puckering on the backing as I quilt, and it is difficult to use a clamp on a backing that has been cut roughly with scissors. Sometimes after backing pieces are sewn together, one piece grows and is longer than the other piece. It should be trimmed to line up with the shorter piece. It can be difficult to find the center of a backing when the edges are crooked. Please take the time to straighten up those edges. Here is a blog post that talks more about this, with pictures.

• Pressing backings is so important, especially to get rid of that nice crease down the center from being on the bolt.

Batting

• If you provide batting, that is fine. I typically cut batting a minimum of 6” wider and 6” longer than the quilt top. It’s okay if its bigger, or longer. Quilts stretch sometimes or aren’t always straight, so those extra inches come in handy. I also mark dots when I’m quilting with the computer to reference the spacing, and it’s handy to do that on the batting along the edges.

• If you have scraps of batting and want to stitch them together, that’s fine, but I suggest just doing that with smaller projects, nothing bigger than a baby quilt. You can use a needle and thread and whip stitch them together, which isn’t very secure, or you can butt the edges up together and use your sewing machine and zig zag it. That is what I have done. Its more secure to zig zag it, and it’s going to last longer in the long run…especially for quilts that are going to get washed a ton.

• Double batting is such a fun way to enhance the quilting on your quilt. I’ve done that on several of my own quilts that I’ve custom quilted. I recommend doing a bamboo or 8020 cotton/poly blend on the bottom layer, and then wool on the top. It helps the quilting pop! I don’t recommend doing two layers of the 8020 cotton poly blend. I did so awhile back on a client’s quilt, and she said it was too stiff.

• Polyester batting is notttt my favorite, unless of course it is bonded on the outside. If you can pull the batting apart, don’t use it. It will be lumpy, and you’ll hate it!! Remember the comforters that a lot of us grew up with, that were purchased at the big box stores??? Yeah, bad polyester batting! Lumpy after they are washed. I know there are some great polyester battings, I used to carry one when I first started quilting. It had a skim on both sides and quilted up beautifully. Unfortunately, gas prices went up and they quit making it because it was too costly to ship. I know there are great poly blend battings out there, however my clients love my 8020 cotton poly blend batting. If they want a puffy batting we typically use the wool. I’m sure that Hobbs or Quilters Dream have a great selection of poly blend battings. If you have a poly batting that you love, you’re more than welcome to send it with your quilt.

• Bagged or packaged battings aren’t my favorite either. They tend to have a lot more fold lines in them, and sometimes seem a bit stretched out. My battings come off of a roll. If you do get a bagged batting, let it out of the bag to see if it can relax some before its quilted.

Shipping Quilts

• Please notify me when you are shipping a quilt, so I can watch for it and also to ensure that I will be in town when it arrives. I will ask for a tracking number as well.

• Please ship your quilt in a bag inside of a box, this helps protect it if the box gets wet or damaged.

• I return quilts using USPS, unless UPS or FedEx are requested. All shipping costs are paid by the client. Quilts are returned after the quilting is paid for.

• If you’d like your quilt insured, let me know. I typically just use the insurance that comes with the cost of the shipping.

Payment

• I accept checks, cash and apple pay at this time. You can easily mail me a check or pay through apple pay, and then I will ship your quilt back to you. Please don’t mail cash.

• I’ve been asked over the years to use paypal or other credit card services, however the fees are too much.

• There is no down payment required. Payment can be paid in full when the quilt is quilted.

• Please pay for quilting within a week of me notifying you that your quilt is finished.

Quotes

• Check under the pricing info, at the top of this page. You will see the edge to edge prices.

Jean Quilts

• I am very selective when I quilt anything with denim in it, especially quilts made with jeans. Years ago, while quilting a denim quilt the motherboard on my machine was fried. My machine stopped working. We had to wait weeks for a part and then fix it ourselves. Jean quilts that have seams, pockets, or other bulky parts are too hard for the needle to easily go in and out of, then the machine tends to struggle. I will quilt thin denim that is mixed with other fabrics, so there are no bulky seams.

Communicating

• If you’d like your quilt quilted in a specific way, please let me know. If you have pictures of something that you like, please share! However, each freemotion or freehand quilters quilting looks different. No two quilters can quilt the same.

Have Fun!!! These are just tips and aren’t meant to make quilting a chore. They will help you get the best result after your quilt is quilted.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I would love to quilt for you!